Sponsors

Please login to continue

Adnews offers non-subscribers free access to one story per month.

Report: Global internet and social media use

Social media companies Hootsuite and We Are Social have released a study on social media and digital media usage internationally. According to the report, the number of internet users in the world has increased to over four billion, representing 53% of the global population. Global social media usage has increased 13% in the last year, now reaching 3.2 billion users. Mobile social media usage is up 14% to 2.9 billion users. According to the report, 93% of social media users access these services through a mobile device. In addition, 1.7 billion users purchased consumer goods online last year.

"With four billion people now online, connectivity is already a way of life for most of us," said Simon Kemp, a global consultant at We Are Social. "However, as internet companies strive to serve the next billion users, we'll see important changes in digital over the coming months. Audio-visual content will take priority over text, especially in social media and messaging apps, while voice commands and cameras will replace keyboards as our primary means of input. Social relationships and online communities will evolve to accommodate these new ways for people to interact with each other. This will result in rich new experiences for all of us, but businesses need to start preparing for these changes today."